Inca Kings

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR

Left alone for a while, Hayden saw a chance and took full opportunity.

An extensive cave system seemed to exist beneath the house, stretching all the way into the mountain. Efforts had been made to close off all but the smallest tunnels with wooden doors, but nothing could prevent the deep chill of underground chambers from penetrating. Individual cubicles had been fashioned, mere places to sleep or rest, using metal framing and plasterboard to a height of eight feet. Above all those, suspended from the cave’s high ceiling by more metal latticework, hung an array of CCTV cameras.

“Great,” Hayden muttered. “Not only are we friggin’ freezing our asses off they’re on camera too.”

The slight girl had stuck with her and now giggled. “You’re funny. Thanks for your help back there.”

“Anytime.” Hayden stuck a hand out. “Call me Hayden.”

“Hayden? Hi, I’m Fay.”

Wondering which way to proceed, Hayden decided upon a more self-deprecating point of view. “How the hell did I end up here?”

Fay seated herself on a hard rock, since no chairs were in evidence. She was slim of build, around five-foot-four, and with a narrow, pretty face. Her hair was long, sleek, hanging forward over her shoulders. Her eyes, deep and round, now studied the ground as, it appeared, was normal for her.

“Bad choices, I guess,” she said.

“You’re American, right? That accent… California?”

“Started off there.”

“Ah, I’m terrible too. Can’t remember where I slept yesterday.”

Fay tugged at the sleeves covering her arms, ensuring they were fully concealed. Hayden knew the girl was betraying herself, telegraphing the problem without proper knowledge, and smiled.

“I’m in no position to judge. Done some bad shit in my time.”

“But you seem… all together.”

Hayden looked away, genuinely evaluating herself. “Dude, I’m more of a mess than late night TV. I stand up for myself, that’s all.”

“My dream.” Fay didn’t look up.

“Late night TV?”

Her new friend laughed and kicked her feet in the air as she jumped off the rock. “Let’s explore.”

So they did, having had no orders stating otherwise. The cave structure led down three different tunnels, all ending at wooden doors locked and bolted. To banish any further doubt red signs had been glued to each door.

“Keep out,” Fay said. “Maybe that’s where they conduct the experiments.”

Hayden came to a standstill, frowning hard. “What experiments?”

“Isn’t that why you’re here? Two weeks for two thousand dollars. I passed the checks and I was in. Didn’t really listen to the lingo. Something about crossing barriers, they said. Overcoming taboos.” She shrugged. “They said it could be uncomfortable, but hey, I’ve been uncomfortable since I was nine.”

Hayden thought hard. “Do you have any family?”

“Not since I was nine.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“It is what it is.” Fay nestled in a fatalistic shroud. “People like us ain’t gonna change it.”

“But we don’t have to accept it.”

“There you go again. Strong bitch, ain’t ya? If you didn’t sign up for the greenbacks why are you here?”

“Oh, I did,” Hayden said hastily. “Just threw me when you said experiments. They didn’t say that to me.”

“Oh. Well, what the hell, right? Two weeks for two grand ain’t bad. They can stick me on camera all they want for that.”

Hayden turned away, sorry and at the same time extremely angry for the girl. Defeated by life, this is where she’d ended up. Exploited. Used. Essentially taken from the face of the world. How many men and women, boys and girls, disappeared daily this way? How many desperate souls lost just because they hadn’t found their place in life?

Others watched them as they passed by. Hayden studied their faces. None looked particularly unhappy, but then none were grinning either. Most got about their business of sleeping, reading, chatting quietly or just staring up beyond the bank of cameras at the roof. Toward the far side of the cave a row of shower stalls and toilets were set up, none of them private, nothing but functional.

“Guess I’ll skip the shower tonight,” Hayden whispered, hoping to make Fay laugh, as an older man stepped out, hairy and bare from head to toe.

The young girl stared at her. “Who are you?”

“I told you.”

“No. Like I said, I’ve been basically alone since I was nine. My kind of people — we know each other. We’re the same. You see that guy…” She pointed at a youth sat staring into space. “I can share shit with him. I never met him but I can see. That woman…” A platinum blonde with old scars running down her face. “Her — I can sit next to. Pass a day. Talk shit. Never see her again. That’s a good day, you see, ’cause we ain’t being owned by some bastard who thinks he’s in charge. Big man always tells you what to do.”

“And you tell him to go to hell.”

“No, bitch. Not if you wanna walk away you don’t.”

Fay stared at Hayden now, and for the first time a hardness tougher than raw diamond shone out of her eyes. A lifetime of misery, of regret, of hardship and long-lost chances had turned to stone. Once, even up to the age of eight, Fay had been like every other girl her age — a living firecracker of emotion, fun and spirit, as mighty as a God in her own world, doted over by parents and looking forward to the rest of her life. But how quickly, how insanely fast, everything could change. You lose that security too young, Hayden thought. You lose.

“You don’t know me.” Hayden knew the only way through this was to return the challenge. “You don’t know my choices. So what if I grew up different to you? So what if think and talk different to you? Don’t mean I ain’t got problems.”

Fay dropped her gaze toward her own feet. “I guess.”

A flurry of chatter rushed through the room, bringing heads up and emptying the shower stalls faster than an arctic blast. Hayden watched as the people she’d come to think of as recruits rose to stand beside their makeshift beds along rough, rocky walls, or just froze where they stood. She sent an enquiring look toward the nearest figure.

“Dantanion.” Fear crackled through the word like lightning within a storm cloud.

Hayden followed Fay’s lead this time, and studied the ground. She expected the man would check over the new recruits, and wasn’t disappointed. Within five minutes he was swishing up to her side. She saw the surprisingly boot-shod feet, a pair of shoes worth ten grand if ever she’d seen them, and the bottom half of a black robe. Unsure, she waited. Presently, she felt a finger under her chin, raising her face to his.

“We give thanks to the offering,” he said cryptically. “All the offerings. You are welcome in our community. All of you.”

Hayden allowed a slight smile, fighting hard to remain pliant. Dantanion was a tall individual, and thin, wiry, built like a rake. His black hair was lustrous, his eyes pools of mystery, his skin swarthy, giving him an enigmatic air she was immediately drawn to. When he stared hard at her like he was doing now she felt like he might be able to see right into her soul.

And she felt a little weak.

Crap, what are you doing?

Hayden hardened her face before it gave her away. Dantanion moved on to Fay and then the other new recruits, welcoming them all. It was a moment before he then turned to address the entire room.

“Maybe you know by now, but we call each step of your journey an initiation.” He smiled, a tanned and inexplicable figure wearing a stretched white T-shirt under the half-open robe, showing muscles worthy of a top athlete. Hayden dragged her eyes back up to his face.

“And you will all be glad to know,” he continued, “that the first initiations start right now.”

All of a sudden, his physical appearance vanished completely from her mind.